I’m sitting at an airport having just preached this morning in a conference with the theme of “Hope” and it occurred to me just how many people around me are potentially without hope.
But what does that really mean? What are incenuating when we say that we have “lost hope” or that someone is completely and totally “without hope?”
A feeling of hopelessness is generally tied to some event or loss that we have experienced and the solution is not yet visible. Some people mistakingly equate hopelessness to brokenness. Often, a period of brokenness will lead to a season of hopelessness but they are certainly two distinct emotional realities.
When we have hope, we have assurance that our present situation will improve. It might be a relationship, our health, our finances, or simply life in general. When we are filled with hope, we know that the clouds will soon disappear and yield to the sunshine.
When our hope is gone, we doubt that things will ever improve and what we have is the best we will ever see. Paul said it this way, “if I had hope in this life only, I’d be of all men most miserable.” Paul is saying that if this life, with its problems, troubles, struggles and yes, even it’s joys would be a completely hopeless scenario.
What is your level of hope today? Are you going through a valley that seems to be endless? Take a little time today and read Peter’s Epistles. These two letters focus on the excruciating trials and persecution that the church was enduring. However, these two works from Peter’s pen are overflowing with hope. Or, as Peter calls it, a living hope.
As you read, remember that Paul had already been martyred about two years prior as had many other apostles. When Peter wrote these words, his own death by crucifixion was looming in the near future. And Peter says to his readers, “HOPE.”
Peter learned something when he stepped out of the boat and walked across the water. He learned that if one takes their focus off of Jesus they will instantly begin to sink. Perhaps your focus is on your problems, pain, and persistent predicament. If you continue to focus on such temporary things, hope will seem most impossible. However, if you look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, hope, a living hope is yours for the taking.
Okay, let’s be honest. When is the last time that you said something like, “all we can do now is pray?” A statement such as this usually comes in the midst of an excruciating circumstance such as a bad diagnosis from the doctor, a pending foreclosure on your home, or perhaps a potential layoff from your employer. Of course there are a myriad of other possibilities that cause us to do all that we can to make the situation better. Then, after we have exhausted our resources, our strength, our talent, our time, and our ingenuity, we pray.
The Depths 